Mexican authorities have arrested Rafael Alvarez, known as “R2”, an alleged leader of a cell of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), in an operation in Zapopan, in the Guadalajara metropolitan area, that drew on intelligence shared by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Mexico’s Navy said its special operations unit carried out the arrest on Sunday, working with the security ministry and the National Intelligence Center. Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch said Alvarez was wounded in a shootout during the operation and was receiving medical care. Nineteen other people were detained.

Linked to mayor’s murder and US charges

Alvarez is suspected of heading the cartel’s “Los Rs” cell, which Harfuch linked to extortion, drug trafficking, homicide, kidnapping and attacks on the authorities. He has an outstanding Mexican warrant for aggravated homicide and a separate warrant for extradition to the United States.

Authorities link Alvarez to the killing of at least 19 people, including the murder last year of Carlos Manzo, the mayor of Uruapan in Michoacan state who had campaigned against organised crime. In August, a US grand jury indicted “R1” and “R2” on charges of conspiring to traffic cocaine and methamphetamine into the United States, as well as firearms offences.

A test for Mexico’s cartel crackdown

The CJNG is one of Mexico’s two main criminal groups and was designated a foreign terrorist organisation by the US government in 2025. The arrest, built on US intelligence, is the latest sign of close security cooperation between the two countries, and of the pressure on Mexico to show results against the cartels. The authorities have not said when Alvarez will appear in court or when any extradition request will be heard.